Manga Machinations

This week we start off by thanking a listener, we examine characteristics of ONE’s protagonists from One Punch Man & Mob Psycho 100, and Seamus breaks down the levity of lighter chapters in Golden Kamuy! Then we go over the final chapters of Billy Bat before breaking down the series, solving all the mysteries, and giving our overall thoughts on the series as a whole!!!(covers chapters 163-165)

On this episode we reveal our plans for next week, Seamus drops The Highschool Life of a Fudanshi(Fudanshi Koukou Seikatsu) but picks up Houkago Edge, dakazu talks about Nana to Kaoru and Jisatsutou(Suicide Island) ending, we examine the Orange anime and live action adaptations of Yowamushi Pedal and Bleach, and Darfox gets into the popularity of variety shows in Japan! In our Side by Side segment we compare 2 very different baseball manga, Ace of Diamond and H2, but Seamus may be sick of all these sports manga!

Welcome to our 100th episode and 2 year anniversary!!! We’re joined by special guest Ryan Higgins from the Comic Conspiracy podcast to talk about the history of manga published in America, our secret origins for manga, the end of Bleach, Gundam anime, and Hayao Miyazaki’s take on Lupin the 3rd in The Castle of Cagliostro!!!

On this episode Seamus explains the relevance of certain characters related to Norse Mythology in Vinland Saga, dakazu loves the Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji comedy spin-off about evil organization middle management in Mr. Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues(Chuukan Kanriroku Tonegawa), and we catch up on another chapter of Billy Bat! Then for our One Shot retrospective, we look at Rensuke Oshikiri’s tragic tale of murderous middle schoolers in Misu Misou!!!

Welcome to another solo-cast with dakazu! He’ll be talking about the other weekly shonen magazines and the manga series he reads in them, including Shonen Magazine, Shonen Sunday, and Shonen Champion!!!

This week we discuss the trailers for the Blame! and A Silent Voice movie trailers, dakazu is excited about the re-serialization of Hi Score Girl, and we have a discussion about various manga that cover geek culture, such as Genshiken, Knights of the Dinner Table and Record of Lodoss War! Then we check out 3 new manga for another edition of Triple Dip! This time we look at Shamo, Detroit Metal City, and Delicious in Dungeon(Dungeon Meshi)!!!

We kick off this week’s episode with an emergency Billy Bat update and discuss the megaton reveal from the newest chapters! Then it’s time for another Saikyo Selections! We check out various cases(covers chapters 40-44, 62-67, 92-98) from the most popular shonen mystery series Case Closed(Detective Conan) while trying to break down the series and the genre!!!

On this episode dakazu laments over terrible manga but loves twisted relationships in the autobiographical Nikkan Yandere Fuufu Manga(Yandere Married Couple), Seamus checks out a cute Korean web comic Spirit Fingers, and darfox digs the distinct art style of the Mob Psycho 100 anime! Then we compare and contrast the 2 cycling manga Yowamushi Pedal and Over Drive for another Side by Side!!!

On this episode Seamus finishes A Drifting Life while dakazu talks about boys who love yaoi in The Highschool Life of a Fudanshi(Fudanshi Koukou Seikatsu) and an autobiographical manga about overcoming anxiety and connecting with others in My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness! We also start a new section called One Shot where we’ll be doing single episode retrospectives on a shorter manga. Listen as we discuss Shojo Fight manga artist Yoko Nihonbashi’s previous work G Senjou Heaven’s Door!!

After taking a quick wrestling tangent, Seamus continues with Yoshihiro Tatsumi in A Drifting Life, dakazu talks about the new 3D Berserk anime, and darfox explains the wackiness of Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ! Then, for Triple Dip, we revisit some newly translated manga dakazu has talked about! We discuss the beginning of Chimamure Sukeban Chainsaw, Mustard Chocolate, and Shojo Fight!!!

This week Seamus dives into Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s autobiography manga A Drifting Life while dakazu and darfox hash out all things grim dark with Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and it’s polar opposite sequel, the upbeat Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ. Then darfox leads us our discussion of our Manga in Motion selection Trigun: Badlands Rumble! Love & Peace!!!

Welcome to the final episode of our retrospective on Naoki Urasawa’s Monster!!! We finish covering the final chapters, examine the controversial ending, and give our final thoughts on the series as a whole!(covers chapter 142-162)

On our penultimate retrospective of Monster we move on from Martin’s arc, learn about the twins’ origins, and prepare for the finale by having Seamus predict who will live and who will die!!!(covers chapters 123-141) Also, dakazu has been re-reading Hunter x Hunter, Seamus finds more political elements in A Bride's Story(Oyomegatari), and we take a quick tangent with soccer and comic strips!

This week dakazu checks out Junji Ito’s take on a political thriller in Yuukokuno no Rasputin, darfox examines Naruto expanded fiction Boruto, Seamus likes the post-war supernatural investigators in Ubume no Natsu, and  we dive into the prison break arc of Monster!!!(covers chapters 105-122)

Seamus has started reading A Bride's Story(Oyomegatari) again, darfox talks about the Yowamushi Pedal movie, and dakazu is moved by the biography manga about Cambodian Deminer Aki Ra in Mitsurin Shounen Jungle Boy. Then, secrets are revealed as we wrap up the ‘Mr Grimmer arc’ in Naoki Urasawa’s Monster!!!(covers chapters 87-104)

This week darfox8 checks out Tsutomu Nihei’s take on Western comics in Wolverine: Snikt! and dakazu returns to incompetent child soldier stereotypes of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. Our retrospective of Monster continues as we wrap up the Mr Schuwalt arc and are introduced to new characters of Mr Grimmer and Agent Suk!!!(covers chapters 69-86)

On this episode Darfox gives Yu Yu Hakusho some anime love, dakazu checks out the Satoshi Kon & Katsuhiro Otomo joint project World Apartment Horror  and also learns about quirky routines of everyday people in Sono "Okodawari", Ore ni mo Kure Yo!!. Then we continue our Monster retrospective as Tenma and Johan close in on each other!!!(covers chapters 51-68)

Seamus starts us off this week with pop culture references to The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift in Time Prisoners(Space-Time Prisoner). Then dakazu can’t believe a mangaka’s real account of living in the woods in Disappearance Diary while discovering Rensuke Oshikiri range in his works Misu Misou, Dero Dero, and Dohii! Obake ga Boku wo Penpen Naguru!(Gosh! The Ghost Keeps Slapping Me!). We close out with our Monster retrospective as we delve deeper into the characters of Eva Heinemann and Inspector Lunge!!!(covers chapters 33-50)

On this episode Seamus takes a break from manga to talk about the Vertigo comics, we discuss Robert Rodriquez directing Alita: Battle Angel, darfox revisits the Prison School chapter from last week that has been re-edited, and dakazu finds a manga from his youth that was released from Dark Horse as single issue comics called Grey. Then it’s time for more Monster! Now that the prelude is over, we get into the dramatic thriller storyline of Dr Tenma pursing Johan!!!(covers chapters 17-32)

On this episode Seamus catches up on March comes in like a lion(3-angatsu no Lion), darfox gets into translating slander in Prison School, and dakazu reads a horror version of Mushishi in Tsubaki and salary negotiations of professional baseball in Gurazeni: Money Pitch! Then we begin our newest retrospective of Monster, the work that made Naoki Urasawa what he is today! Listen as we discuss the story, characters and have dramatic read-throughs of the select scenes in what we’re calling Monster-piece Theater!!!(covers chapters 1-16)